A few of my favorite things

Sadie is two months old today! She is such a good baby girl. She is really mellow, especially when her brothers are attacking her with kisses and hugs. Luke likes to test his limits with her. He'll blow in her face, tug her legs, jerk her arms. Sadie, he really does love you, I promise. She is getting so big so fast. This dress is already tight on her! And so is the onesie she's wearing beneath it and they are supposedly 0-3 month size. I think my little girl might be like her brother Luke, too big for her britches all the time. (Luke is already is 5T pants!!)

We got to go to our friend's the Sheldon's annual Gingerbread house and cookie decorating party again. This is our third year going. I love these parties. I love decorating gingerbread houses. The boys did a really good job of decorating this year. I let them fill their own bowls with candy and I was in charge of the royal icing. After I laid down the glue they topped it with their candies. Sadie slept nicely while we decorated. Then we headed inside the house to decorate a few cookies. It was a blast! Thank you Sheldon's for inviting us again.

Running Smoothly

Training has begun. Like spring training, but its winter. This is my second week of "training" to run the OC half marathon in May. Oh how different my body is since having my baby almost eight weeks ago. So much more different than after each of the boys. Each step I take is an effort, more so than its ever been before. Its not supposed to be this way. I exercised all through my pregnancy, mind you! I wasn't in stellar shape but I wasn't a lump on the log either. But you wouldn't be able to tell. Its a good thing this race is five months away! I'm not doing this alone though. I registerd for the training group too. It was expensive but its SO much more fun to run with a group than all by my lonesome, especially when we start running six, eight, and ten miles. I'm going to need the support of other crazies to get me through. Don't be fooled though, I really love it. I have silly dreams of actually breaking the 10 minute mile barrier (granted, I'm still hovering around 11:30 or 12). I subscribed to Runner's World and received my first issue a few weeks ago. I didn't want to put it down. Especially the article about why we all need a running partner. I have a love/hate relationship with running. Most of the time I hate taking the first few steps. I can talk myself out of doing my run almost every time. But you know what happens afterward? I come home a completely different person. I leave the house an inferior version of myself and when I get back, or when I finish my run on the treadmill, I've been upgraded. I am a better person. I handle stress better. I'm more patient. I'm more kind. I'm so much more fun to be around. I come back feeling like I could be on the cover of Runner's World....until I look in the mirror and am reminded I'm still me. I'm not going to lie and tell you that my motivation to run is for the love of running itself. I don't think you could even call what I do running, its more of a jog. I do it mostly just for the vanity and hope that I can drop some pounds and one day be a jaw dropper again....(haha). But it becomes so much more. Its my antidepressant, my therapy, my stress reliever, my trial of fire. My body is not running smoothly just yet but its running and I'm so thankful for that.

List

Grandma Rasmussen came to visit after Thanksgiving. She brought some fun teeth that Ethan and Luke experimented with. These are their "Arrrrgh" faces. She also brought a recipe for coconut cake. (She heard about my infatuation with coconut macadamia nut gelato and thought she would indulge the sweet tooth a little.) This thing was the real deal. She said she got the recipe from a Family Circle magazine. It had coconut milk in the batter and cream cheese frosting. She made the cake and I happily ate a piece every day, it was delicious! We also made strawberry freezer jam one day. That was delicious too.

She also went to work making a stocking for Sadie. It is gorgeous. Here she is ironing it. I would take a picture of the finished product but its not quite done. I need to embroider Sadie's name on it so I want you to have the full effect.

I love christmas cards. December rolls around and I anxiously await the mailman as though he were Santa Claus himself. I love opening the cards and seeing pictures of friends and family, reading letters or lists. I love how my little snow man card holder looks jam packed with cards from loved ones. I display the most recent card in the front until the next card comes to take its place. Here he is looking a little bare, christmas cards where are you?

Here is our first one!!! Ev, you get the prize for first Christmas card of the season...ding! ding! ding! Ahhh, I feel much better now that my snowman isn't so lonely anymore.

Do I stay or Do I go now?

So I know I've been MIA. I will be playing catch up shortly but I have a decision to make and I need some help making it. We have the opportunity to go on a trip to St. Martin January 14-17. I don't know if I want to go. Here is my pro/con list. PROS A free trip to St. Martin Yummy food I don't have to cook A spa treatment as long as I have someone to watch Sadie Staying at a cool resort (http://www.radisson.com/stmartin) Being able to hang out with Steve CONS Seven hour flight plus layover makes for a 12 hour travel time, two days in an airplane with a baby....ehhhhh Only two full days in St. Martin, is it worth the loooooong flights? Steve will be in meetings most of the day Can I work around Sadie or make her work around me? I have to get an expedited passport for Sade I am nowhere NEAR bathing suit ready (I shudder to think) What should I do? What would you do? Help me make up my mind.

Is today Christmas?

Ethan has been asking me that question for a couple days. Today he asked it and I told him no, like usual. He said he can't wait for Christmas because he wants a new toy. He's been carrying around this Wal-Mart catalog ever since it arrived in the mail. He turns the pages and looks at everything. Then he lets us know what he wants and we tell him he needs to ask Santa. Can you see how worn this catalog is? The pages have begun to fall out. I grabbed the book before it got completely mutilated so I could document this and then toss it in the recycling bin. I think this whole thing has been absolutely adorable. He hasn't been completely greedy and impatient. He just looks and looks and dreams. I WANT to give him everything he wants but I know its better if he doesn't get it all. Anyway....hopefully Christmas won't be a major disappointment for him when he doesn't get everything in the catalog. ;)

I have found heaven...

and it exists in a pint of coconut macadamia nut gelato. I know the picture is of dark chocolate gelato but this is the only picture I could find from the manufacturer's website. I'm sure the dark chocolate is just as delicious but I'm more of a coconut fan myself. When I have a pint of this in my home it doesn't last more than a day. Its all I want to eat. It is my new favorite ice cream flavor and favorite ice cream bar none. Seriously, I just want to eat this every day until I get sick of it...if that is even possible. Its a good thing none of the groceries stores by my house sell it. If you come across any you should definitely try it, you won't be disappointed. I've been going on the Cafe Classico website regularly to request a retailer in my area. I'm so hooked. Mmmmm...

One Month Old

Sadie is one month old. I can't believe its already been a month since I gave birth to her! She is getting so big already. I weighed myself on our scale at home and then picked her up and weighed myself again to get an estimation of what she's weighing now and there was a 12 lb. difference. Ethan and Luke love taking turns holding her. They love to touch her and talk to her. They are really great big brothers. Sadie is such a calm baby. She hardly ever cries. The only exceptions are when she's hungry or tired. I am having a lot of fun dressing her and putting bows in her hair. The only one that fits her really well right now is the white one she is wearing in the first picture. She really likes her pacifier to help soothe herself. She's been out of newborn diapers for a couple weeks now, its amazing how fast babies outgrow those newborn sizes. We love our Sade!

Gold Star

Do you remember grade school and how whenever you did something good you were rewarded with a gold star? At least, thats what it was like for me. Anyway, I feel like this is a gold star day. I've recently had parent/teacher conferences with Ethan and Luke's teachers. Now you might be thinking, this is just pre-k what can there be to conference about? Its not like we're talking grades and college aspirations here. I've just sat down with the teachers (or emailed) and heard about what kinds of behaviors my boys are displaying, if they are adapting to their environment, whether or not they are understanding the lessons taught, etc. Miss Leah (Ethan's teacher) and Miss Jessica (Luke's) have both had such positive things to say about the boys that I've had to hold back the tears (I know, I know....I'm blaming it on my post-partumness...haha). As a parent, its not often that you receive recognition or even some sort of validation that you are doing an ok job. But this feels like it. I feel like maybe, just maybe, Steve and I are doing something right. At the same time, I can't take all the credit. My boys and I are so lucky to have a big support network and they really are being raised by a community of people who love them. I'm not trying to "toot my own horn" here. Believe me, I am well aware of my incompetencies as a mother (patience? anyone handing out extra helpings of patience?). But for right now, at this moment in our lives, I feel like I can say that we are doing ok. Who knows what the next moment brings. The only thing I know for sure is that I will try my best to do what's best for these two little guys (and Sadie too). This all has made me think about parenting in general.

Its not what you think

I need to vent. I'm so tired of all the junk going on right now because Prop. 8 passed. I'm so tired of being labeled as hateful, bigot, discriminatory, or any other false accusation. I'm tired of the LDS church as a whole being attacked because it exercised its right to stand up for what it believes. I'm disgusted that individuals are being attacked for their political and moral views. Prop. 8 was/is never about hate. I don't hate homosexuals (is this the pc term or should I just use gay?). I could care less what sexual orientation they choose to practice in their personal lives. But when you try to redefine society by redefining marriage I have to object. But do I stand outside your home or business and call you names and try to defame you? No. Do I write letters to your boss complaining about your personal contributions to causes you support and ask you be fired? No. I get that you are upset. I completely understand you voicing that opinion but your "dishonor list" is going too far. I drove by our Newport Beach temple on Sunday to take a look at the protestors there. They had some pretty catchy signs, like "Hate the Mormon Bigotry, Love the Mormon Bigot" or "Jesus Said Love Everyone Bi*ches" or "Did you just cast the first stone?" Or this one here. But I think this one is my favorite here. This woman is so very brave and I wish I would have known about her because I would have applauded her or shown some kind of support. Way to go!! Here's a good quote from Elton John that I got from an email sent to me by the Prop. 8 coalition. Elton John: Heterosexual Couples Have Marriage, Same-Sex Couples Have Civil Partnerships USA Today published an article yesterday in which Sir Elton John spoke about his position on Proposition 8. John clarified his position on Prop 8 while attending the annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He was accompanied by his longtime partner David Furnish, whom he joined in a civil union in 2005. John was quoted as saying, "We're not married. Let's get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage." John went on to emphasize that civil unions grant same-sex couples the same rights afforded to married heterosexual couples. He stated, "I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership…the word marriage, I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships." Last but not least, when everyone seems against us its nice to read about people who've got "our backs." SACRAMENTO 7 November 2008 (This news release was issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento) The following statement was released today by Bishop William Weigand, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and former Bishop of Salt Lake City, in response to attacks on (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) for supporting California’s Proposition 8, defending the traditional definition of marriage: “Catholics stand in solidarity with our Mormon brothers and sisters in support of traditional marriage — the union of one man and one woman — that has been the major building block of Western Civilization for millennia. “The ProtectMarriage coalition, which led the successful campaign to pass Proposition 8, was an historic alliance of people from every faith and ethnicity. LDS were included — but so were Catholics and Jews, Evangelicals and Orthodox, African-Americans and Latinos, Asians and Anglos. “Bigoted attacks on Mormons for the part they played in our coalition are shameful and ignore the reality that Mormon voters were only a small part of the groundswell that supported Proposition 8. “As the former bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, I can attest to the fact that followers of the Mormon faith are a good and generous people with a long history of commitment to family and giving to community causes. “I personally decry the bigotry recently exhibited towards the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — coming from the opponents of Proposition 8, who ironically, have called those of us supporting traditional marriage intolerant. “I call upon the supporters of same-sex marriage to live by their own words — and to refrain from discrimination against religion and to exercise tolerance for those who differ from them. I call upon them to accept the will of the people of California in the passage of Proposition 8.” SOURCE: Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento

Halloween 2008

We carved our pumpkins a week before Halloween out in the back yard. Here's Luke holding still just long enough for me to get a pic. We had another heat wave and, sadly, the pumpkins didn't make it to Halloween. But we had fun anyway!

Ethan helped carve out all the guts and drew on the face he wanted me to carve for him.

I took the boys to the store and let them pick out their costumes. Luke chose to be a blue power ranger (and would tell anyone and everyone who would listen) and Ethan was a SWAT team member. Here they are standing by their pumpkins before the pumpkins died. Halloween night we got dressed and went to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Steve was sick and I stayed at the house with Sade but the boys LOVED going out with their aunt and uncle and grandparents. Ethan, Luke, Ellie and Amerie posed for a pic after they came back with their loot. Ellie is princess Belle and Amerie is a cute fairy. Hey, maybe next year Sade will make an appearance in that fairy costume! I didn't think my sister was getting Steve and I in the pic or else we wouldn't look so weird. Happy Halloween!!!!